The invention relates generally to evaporative coolers and, more particularly, to portable evaporative coolers.
The evaporative cooler has been a source of inexpensive cooling since the early 1900""s. In general, an evaporative cooling unit includes a housing having a fan and one or more water saturated cooling pans mounted therein. The fan is designed to draw air through the housing and across the water saturated pads. The air is cooled by moisture evaporation as the air passes through the pads. Evaporative coolers are particularly suited for outdoor use, or applications where air conditioning is impractical or cost prohibitive. Typical applications include warehouses, aircraft hangars, auto repair shops, and gymnasiums. Further, prior to refrigerated air conditioning, some evaporative coolers were mounted horizontally in the roofs of cars or other vehicles. At least one known evaporative cooler is mounted horizontally in the roof of a golf cart.
However, the typical evaporative cooler is a large structure permanently fixed in position. The fan diameters typically are 24 to 36 inches and the weight is approximately 150 to about 500 pounds, depending on the size of the unit. Such designs are not conducive to portability. Prior to the present invention, it was believed that the utility of an evaporative cooler typically required the above sizes to conduct a sufficient air flow and cooling capacity. Thus, limited efforts were directed toward portability. One portable evaporative cooler resembles a typical xe2x80x9cboxxe2x80x9d fan sold at discount stores and is powered by AC current. It appears to have a relatively large, centrally disposed fan.
Therefore, there remains a need for increased portability of evaporative coolers.
The present invention provides a portable evaporative cooler that is capable of being carried from location to location and readily used even in remote areas. The portable evaporative cooler contains one or more relatively small fans mounted in a case and having a water reservoir disposed below the fans. The cooling pad is mounted behind the fans and water is pumped across the cooling pads. One or more fans cause an air flow to pass the cooling pads and exit the evaporative cooler.
While such features may present an incremental step in the progress of the evaporative cooling fan technology, such features heretofore have not been available. Prior to the invention, those in the art of evaporative coolers were relegated to relatively large and nonportable or semi-portable evaporative coolers. The need for portability of evaporative coolers has been long felt and the technology may have existed to solve the need. However, those with ordinary skill of the art do not appreciate the appropriate solution offered by the present invention.
A portable evaporative cooler is provided, comprising a case and a water container coupled to the case, the case having a first edge with a length and a second edge with a length and wherein the lengths of the edges have a ratio that is at least about 1.5:1, exclusive of the water container, a cooling pad coupled to the case, and a DC operated fan adapted to connect to a battery for powering the fan, the evaporative cooler having a weight of about 25 pounds or less when the cooler is dry of cooling water.
Further, a portable evaporative cooler is provided, comprising a case, a water container coupled to the case, a cooling pad coupled to the case, and a DC operated fan adapted to connect to a battery for powering the fan.
The portable evaporative cooler further comprises a case, a water container coupled to the case, having a handhold molded into the container, a cooling pad coupled to the case, and a DC operated fan adapted to connect to a battery for powering the fan.
The portable evaporative cooler further comprises a case having an edge to thickness ratio of at least about 3:1, a water container coupled to the case, a cooling pad coupled to the case, and a DC operated fan adapted to connect to a battery for powering the fan.